A Master’s Reckoning

Feeling four pairs of undisguised eyes burning into her face, Ling Qinxue’s cheeks flushed crimson. She suppressed the urge to give Zhang Xiaocha a thorough beating, instead casting a vexed, chiding glance at the girl feigning innocence in her arms.

‘Shared conception? That was clearly something from the past!’

‘Back then, Xiaocha wasn’t even her disciple yet.’

‘Later, Xiaocha’s temperament underwent a drastic change. After repeated disappointments, Ling Qinxue had no choice but to abandon her initial idea.’

‘As for the notion of a child bride, it was utter nonsense; she had long since discarded any such plans.’

“Oh, Master, what’s wrong? Why aren’t you speaking? Don’t be shy~”

“Chacha is a grown-up now~”

Zhang Xiaocha’s lips were pressed into a thin line, terrified she might burst out laughing. [Hehe~ time to strike while the iron is hot~]

[This way, Master’s Disgust Value towards Chacha will be even more firmly established! Hahahahaha~ Truly worthy of being the great Chacha~]

The soft, sweet voice rippled through Ling Qinxue’s sea of consciousness. Her fingers, wrapped around Zhang Xiaocha’s waist, tightened subtly. In a daze, she seemed to grasp something.

‘Disgust Value’ again…

‘Could it be some kind of rare treasure that required others’ emotions to activate? Did this mean Xiaocha’s behavior all these years had been intentional?’

‘And it wasn’t because she didn’t want to share conception with her that her personality had changed so drastically!’

In that instant, Ling Qinxue’s chest heaved violently. Her fingers, still clasped around Zhang Xiaocha’s waist, seized a soft bit of flesh and twisted hard.

“Oof…” Zhang Xiaocha cried out in pain, her eyes filling with tears, her lips tightly sealed, no longer giggling.

Ling Qinxue’s lips curved into a slight smile as she chuckled, looking at the four Sect Masters. “Please excuse us, my disciple here simply loves to spout nonsense.”

Without waiting for the four Sect Masters to speak, she continued, “Actually, after our sect was attacked by that demonic overlord, we weren’t entirely without gains.”

Her voice paused slightly. “For instance…” Ling Qinxue waved her hand towards the empty air. Instantly, a woman shrouded in demonic energy appeared mid-air, her head bowed, unconscious.

“This is…” Liu Mengyun, the Sect Master of Xuan Yue Sect, gasped, asking aloud.

“This person is a demonic cultivator who has been lurking in my Jade Maiden Sect for many years. Taking advantage of the demonic overlord distracting us, she attempted to infiltrate the forbidden grounds to unseal the great demon!”

“However, she was coincidentally captured by my sect’s Head Disciple, Luo Bingning. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.” Ling Qinxue subtly wiped a bead of cold sweat from her brow. Although this demonic cultivator had only failed in her attack on Bingning, who truly knew the full story?

The immediate priority was to clear Xiaocha of any suspicion of being the demonic overlord, especially from Yaoyue.

In response, Yaoyue’s brows furrowed slightly, and spiritual energy quietly circulated in her palm. She seized the woman from mid-air, intending to search her soul, only to discover a restriction within the woman’s sea of consciousness – one that couldn’t be broken by anyone below the Soul Transformation realm.

She looked up, her gaze meeting Ling Qinxue’s subtly mocking eyes.

“What? Sect Master Yao can’t break it? That’s right! After all, Sect Master Yao hasn’t broken through to the Soul Transformation realm yet, has she!” Ling Qinxue smiled faintly.

The Sect Masters of the five major sects in this world were all trapped at the peak of the Nascent Soul realm due to the shackles of heaven and earth. Unless they awakened their ancestors from secluded cultivation or implored Her Majesty the Empress, there was no way to lift this restriction.

Yet, regardless of the method, they could not take this woman away. Even if the Jade Maiden Sect was in decline, it was still the Jade Maiden Sect!

Yaoyue remained silent, her gaze fixed on Zhang Xiaocha without wavering. She saw the girl’s small face wrinkled, her dark, round eyes glistening with tears, due to Ling Qinxue pinching the soft flesh of her waist.

‘Hmm…’

‘She looked exactly as she had when Yaoyue herself had lifted her—full of fear, like an ordinary sixth-level Qi Refinement cultivator.’

‘Perhaps, she truly had guessed wrong.’

‘After all, a treasure capable of making even a Nascent Soul realm powerhouse lose themselves in desire was unheard of throughout the entire Daughter Nation!’

‘Moreover, given Zhang Xiaocha’s troublemaking nature, if she truly possessed such a treasure, wouldn’t the Jade Maiden Sect have been turned upside down long ago? Why would she wait until now?’

Ling Qinxue’s shimmering eyes swept over the four Sect Masters before her. “I brought this person out to inform you that if that demonic overlord can arrange for people to infiltrate my Jade Maiden Sect, coordinating from within and without, solely to unseal the great demon…”

“…then she might also attack your sects. After all, within the five great sects, there are teleportation arrays that allow swift travel between each other! Breaking these arrays would undoubtedly be more conducive to shattering the great demon’s seal!”

Having finished speaking, Ling Qinxue quietly observed the four Sect Masters.

Immediately, a suffocating atmosphere pervaded the main hall.

Oblivious to this, Zhang Xiaocha, nestled in Ling Qinxue’s arms, simply turned her head, blinking her large eyes at the four individuals, including Liu Mengyun. She couldn’t help but mutter inwardly, [Hmm…]

[How strange! What are they talking about? What demonic overlord? Could they be talking about…]

Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in the soft flesh of her waist. She looked up, her gaze colliding with Ling Qinxue’s cold eyes. Her small head instinctively recoiled into her collar, and she pouted, [Hmph~ What’s with the fierce look? No matter how fierce you are, you’re not as big as my Chacha~]

[Hmph~]

Upon hearing this, Ling Qinxue’s breath hitched abruptly. She quietly circulated the spiritual energy within her body, suppressing the blush that threatened to rise to her cheeks.

Although her observations suggested that the four Sect Masters most likely couldn’t hear Xiaocha’s inner thoughts—otherwise Yaoyue wouldn’t have been so flustered and continually testing Xiaocha—nothing was absolute, and she still had to be vigilant!

Ling Qinxue subtly glared at Zhang Xiaocha in her arms. ‘Truly, give them an inch and they’ll take a mile. Once these four Sect Masters are gone, we’ll settle all the old and new scores!’

“In that case, we shall take our leave first, to prevent the demonic overlord from attacking our sects in our absence. Furthermore, when A’Zhi returns, we would trouble Peak Master Ling to convey our farewells to her!” Liu Mengyun, the Sect Master of Xuan Yue Sect, spoke, her voice carrying a hint of gravity.

“Alright!”

The next moment, the figures of Liu Mengyun and the other three vanished from their spots. Simultaneously, four massive pillars of teleportation light reappeared above the Jade Maiden Sect.

Witnessing this, Ling Qinxue’s eyes gleamed with a dangerous red light, and her lips curled into an uncontrollable smile.

In an instant, a cold voice escaped her lips, “Xiaocha, aren’t you going to explain yourself?” She lowered her gaze, seeing Zhang Xiaocha feigning sleep in her arms.

[Hehe~ Silly Master, do you think your Chacha is an idiot? Explain? As soon as I open my eyes, you’d probably string me up and spank me, wouldn’t you~]

[Hehe~ Good thing Chacha is smart enough to pretend to sleep beforehand. This way, Master won’t bear to spank me~]

[Hahahahaha~]

The soft, sweet voice filled Ling Qinxue’s ears. She laughed, a somewhat frantic laugh, then abruptly wiped all expression from her face, looking at Zhang Xiaocha in her arms with a blank stare.

‘You’ve been doing all this deliberately all these years, haven’t you!’

‘Good!’

‘This is just too good!’

[Oof… Master, is Master going crazy? Good thing Chacha is pretending to sleep, otherwise I’d definitely be spanked to death!] Zhang Xiaocha’s heart was filled with trepidation.

Suddenly, she felt a chill on her little bottom.

Slap—

A crisp sound, accompanied by a burning pain, instantly struck, causing Zhang Xiaocha to snap her eyes open, filled with disbelief. “Waaahhh…”

“Master, you’re being a bully! How can you spank Chacha while I’m sleeping! You never used to be like this!”

“You’re picking on me!” Her dark, round eyes were brimming with tears, and her small body struggled ceaselessly, but to no avail.

Ling Qinxue snorted coldly. “Heh! But didn’t you want to share conception with your Master? Then shouldn’t I provide some foreplay? As the saying goes, a spanking is a sign of affection, and scolding is love!”

“This is all Master’s blatant love for you!”

Then, another hard slap landed on Zhang Xiaocha’s bottom.

Slap—

This caused Zhang Xiaocha to burst into loud sobs.

At the same time, her figure flickered, intending to take Zhang Xiaocha back to her residence, Wenhui Residence, to ‘deal with her’ slowly.

Meanwhile, in front of Wenhui Residence,

Mu Xi stood quietly at the entrance, awaiting Master’s return. With the Five Sect Grand Competition approaching, she could use her Master’s command to cultivate alongside Bingning.

Just as she was thinking this, she saw Luo Bingning also appear before Wenhui Residence.

Mu Xi: “?!”